Potlatch at Gitsegukla: William Beynon’s 1945 Field Notebooks

297 Pages·1999·15.264 MB·English

by  Margaret Anderson, Marjorie Halpin

Potlatch at Gitsegukla
Photograph of William Beynon, 1947.
C. Marius Barbe.au photo courtesy Canadian Museum of Civilization (#103014)
Edited and with an Introduction by
Margaret Anderson and Marjorie Halpin
Potlatch at Gitsegukla:
William Beynon's
1945 Field Notebooks
UBC Press Vancouver Toronto
UBC Press 2000
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior
written permission of the publisher, or, in Canada, in the case of photocopying
or other reprographic copying, a licence from CANCOPY (Canadian Copyright
Licensing Agency), 900 - 6 Adelaide Street East, Toronto, ON M5C 1 H6.
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper
ISBN 0-7748-0743-1 (hardcover)
ISBN 0-7748-0744-X (paperback)
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Beynon, William, 1888-1969.
Potlatch at Citsegukla
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7748-0743-1 (bound)
ISBN 0-7748-0744-X (pbk.)
1. Potlatch - British Columbia. 2. Citksan Indians - Rites and ceremonies.
3. Citksan Indians - Social life and customs. I. Anderson, Margaret, 1945- II.
Halpin, Marjorie M., 1 937- III. Title.
E99.K55B49 2000 394.2'089'9741 C99-9112503
This book has been published with a grant from the Humanities and Social
Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada.
UBC Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada
through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our
publishing activities.
Canada
We also gratefully acknowledge the ongoing support to our publishing program
from the Canada Council for the Arts and the British Columbia Arts Council.
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Contents
Illustrations / vii
Preface / ix
Sm'ooygit Hannamauxw
Acknowledgments / xi
Introduction / 3
Beynon Notebooks:
Volume I / 53
Volume II / 89
Volume III / 127
Volume IV/ 163
Key Events in the Gitksan Encounter with the Colonial World / 193
James A. McDonald and Jennifer Joseph
Appendices:
1 Note on the Orthography Used by William Beynon in the
Notebooks / 21 7
2 Place Names in the Notebooks / 220
3 List of Names for Each Village by Clan / 223
4 Naxnox Names and Performances / 240
5 Other Gitksan Terms in the Texts / 242
6 Names of the Poles / 248
7 Types of Contributions / 249
8 Types of Events / 251
9 Types of Songs / 252
Notes / 253
References Cited / 267
Index / 275
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Illustrations
Photograph of William Beynon, 1947 / ii
Map locating Gitksan communities / 2
Ksgognmhigox (Joe Brown), Hoxpegwatkw (Arthur McDames), and
Hiswildo'gik ("pretend warrior" Irene Harris) singing liimk'oi as a pole is
raised / 1 8
Stone grave marker showing bear with tree growing out of its back
(Wilson Duff photo, 1952) / 37
"Pole in the Sand" (Wilson Duff photo, 1 952) / 42
Hannamauxw (Jeffry Johnson's) pole, "Rainbow Pole" (Wilson Duff photo,
1952) / 44
"Pole of the Mountain Goat" (Wilson Duff photo, 1952) / 46
"Pole of People" (Wilson Duff photo, 1952) / 47
Simon Turner, Fred Johnson (Ganhada, Gitwangak), Edith Turner, Phillip
Ryan (Ganhada, Gitwangak), and Alfred McDames watching a pole
raising (Beynon photo) / 48
Margaret Anderson, Gwaans (Olive Mulwain), Gaxsgabaxs (Gertrude
Watson), and Hannamauxw (Joan Ryan) working on names and other
details for this book, 24 November 1997, Gitsegukla / 49
Seating in the feast hall (figure from Beynon Notebooks,
Volume 1) / 71
Ghost costume (figure from Beynon Notebooks, Volume 1) / 81
viii Illustrations
Pole erection apparatus (figure from Beynon Notebooks,
Volume II) / 109
Wiseks (Stephen Morgan), Axgalgan (John Wesley, Canhada, Gitanmaax),
and Tsiwii (Bert Russell) at Morgan's pole raising
(Beynon photo) / 110
The A-frame in place to raise Stephen Morgan's pole, "Pole in the Sand"
(Beynon photo) /111
People pulling on the ropes to raise a pole (Beynon photo) / 112
Pole raising line (figure from Beynon Notebooks, Volume III) / 130
Gaxskabaxs (Simon Turner's) pole after the second lift
(Beynon photo) / 1 31
Simon Turner and "Pole of People "(Beynon photo) / 1 32
Molxen's robe with crest design (figure from Beynon Notebooks,
Volume III) / 146
T'sa'wals (Arthur Sampere's) pole after the first lift
(Beynon photo) / 1 50
Gwaxsan (Ben Woods) and Arthur Sampere (T'sa'wals) in front of
T'sa'wals' pole, "All Owls" (Beynon photo) / 151
Gwaxsan's "Pole of the Mountain Goat" on the ground
(Beynon photo) / 1 78
Handwritten sample page from Beynon's 1945 Notebooks / 182
Preface
Sm'ooygit Hannamauxw
Editors' Note: When we took this manuscript to the Gitksan community for
comments, Joan Ryan (the present Sm'ooygit Hannamauxw), her mother
Gwaans (the late Olive Mulwain), and Casgabaxs (Gertrude Watson) spent
an entire day helping us sort out the names in Beynon's texts, thus making
a significant contribution to this volume. We invited Hannamauxw to pro-
vide a statement to be included in this publication. Her submission, which
appears below, highlights the continuing significance of the feast in Gitksan
life.
Wilawilhl Ts'im Wilp Liliglt [What Goes on In a Feast Hall]
The word "liligit" refers to the purposeful calling together of the chiefs and
their House members. The invitation issued states the purpose for the
liligit, the date, the time of day, and the community in which it will take
place.
There are many different kinds offcasts: settlement feasts (which occur
after funerals); totem pole- or gravestone-raising feasts; welcome feasts
(to celebrate totem pole-raising events); smoke feasts; retirement feasts;
divorce feasts; wedding feasts; restitution feasts; shame feasts; re-
instatement feasts (pertaining to Gitksan citizens who have disobeyed
Gitksan laws); first game feasts; welcome feasts (to celebrate births); gradu-
ation feasts (to celebrate recent achievements, either academic or spir-
itual); cleansing feasts (to restore spirits after serious accidents); and coming
out feasts (to mark the transition from teen years to adult years).
The feast system is a vehicle by which the Gitksan Nation carries out
activities and transactions that affect the daily lives of the House members
(Wilp). The host for the feast can be the head chief of the House, a wing
chief from the House, or members of the House. The host for the feast
schedules planning sessions for the House members, and, depending on